Saturday, May 30, 2015

Ninelle

Before the Tenpenny family had to return to the United States, they were working on raising funds and arranging a trip for Ninelle. She desperately needed a life saving surgery beyond the capabilities of our hospital. Even though circumstances kept Dr. Elliot Tenpenny from traveling with Ninelle, Dr. Kiong Liao was able to step in and accompany her. After some time, he was relieved by one of our nurses, Amanda Volkman, who plans to remain until Ninelle is able to return to Congo.

An update on Ninelle from Elliot and Amanda

Ninelle, the young woman that together we helped send across the continent of Africa to have open heart surgery has reached Kenya and has now had surgery. She is now in intensive care at Tenwek hospital. We praise God for the chance to take care of this young lady. Together we were able to truly show the love of Christ to her and her family. Never before, to my knowledge has anyone in the Republic of Congo had this surgery, let alone a single mother, from a family without great means, in one of the poorest regions of Congo. Thank you for your help in making this a possibility!

Below are some reports from the nurse with her now and some photos of the surgery. Please continue to pray for her healing.

So surgery went well over all. Was incredible to watch. Dr. White said she has the largest right atrium he has ever seen. Her heart was seriously huge! They completely replaced the mitral valve and placed a band in the tricuspid valve to help it pump more efficiently.

Praise God, Ninelle had a decent night. She was extubated today at 1pm. First thing she said to me is "ndzala" which means hungry : ) She has crazy generalized edema and looks like she has gained 100lbs. The nurses in the icu are fabulous. She has 3 that have been helping her and her cardiac surgeon Dr. Agneta has been here almost all night and day. Pretty impressed.